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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 294.3420423
EAN num: 9781573227193
ISBN number: 1573227196
Label: Riverhead Trade
Manufacturer: Riverhead Trade
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 336
Printing Date: March 01, 1999
Publishing house: Riverhead Trade
Sale Popularity Level: 414969
Studio: Riverhead Trade
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Product Description:
The New York Times calls him 'America's number one Buddhist.' He is the co-founder of Tibet House New York, was the very first American Tibetan Buddhist monk, and has shared a thirty-five-year friendship with the Dalai Lama. Now, Robert Thurman presents his very first completely original book, 'an inspiring guide to incorporating Buddhist wisdom into daily life' (USA Today). Written with insight, enthusiasm, and impeccable scholarship, this is not only a practical primer on one of the world's most fascinating traditions but a wide-ranging look at the course of our civilization--and how we can alter it for the better. 'Part spiritual memoir, part philosophical treatise and part religious history, Thurman's book is a passionate declaration of the possibilities of renewing the world.' --Publishing houses Weekly (starred review)
Amazon.com Review:
Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman (yes, he is the father of Uma) was named one of Time magazine's 25 most influential people in 1997. Here's why: Thurman has a knack for helping laymen understand the teachings and history of Buddhism while also explaining why it has taken root in the West. Thurman was the very first Westerner to be ordained as a monk in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition after studying under the Dalai Lama in 1964. In this highly polished memoir he tells the story of his pupilage under His Holiness, which was a frolic in Sunday school compared to the task of integrating Buddhism into cold war America. This is an optimistic and highly satisfying discusion of how Buddhism has shaped the life of one fascinating scholar as well as the course of Western spirituality. --Gail Hudson
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Rated by buyers -
I loved this book and read it in one sitting on New Years. It is a wonderful combination of the story of a personal search, the central tenets of Buddhism, and a semi-objective religious and historical context for the development of Buddhism.
I have two criticisms of this book.
First, the historical context, while helpful, is hard to view as objective. In particular, Thurman's idealization of Tibet as the only place on Earth to have realized the fruitional stage of societal enlightenment sounds appealing, but is hard for me to believe without more information.
Second, Thurman appeals to many of the modern (materialistic) versions of science, in particular drawing concepts from physics, medicine, and biology to justify Buddhist conclusions and teachings. While I am not able to speak to his interpretation of quantum and subatomic physics, his discusion of biological and neurological concepts seems to gloss over many subtleties... rather than ring like true science, it seems misunderstood and unintentionally twisted. This is ironic, since Thurman laments the misunderstanding of Buddhism by early Western scholars.
It would be wonderful if someone like Thurman could get together with a competent science writer and a spiritual source from Buddhism like the Dalai Lama or Thich Nhat Hanh and follow up on the shortcomings of this book with a synthesis that will help build the Western following Thurman advocates.
Rated by buyers 
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This book was written by literally America's very first Tibetan Buddhist monk, Robert Thurman. It has the "scholar's edge", which makes it probably more accessible to those involved in academic Tibetan studies; that's certainly not to say everyone cannot learn from this, but the writing style and the massive amount of material covered borderlines "saturating" the readers mind. This was a sincere book, full of high hopes I'm sure, and for that we can cut him some slack I suppose. After all, it's not as though this is an entirely bad book. However, as a previous reviewer pointed out, Thurman does seem a bit rushed here. As with many of Roberts' other books, the book covers a lot of both history and dogma. Tibetan Buddhism is extremely esoteric and all too often inaccessible to many practitioners. One criticism I make is that history (Tibetan or otherwise) doesn't really have anything to do with the Buddha's Dharma; what was taught is most important! And yes, Thurman does touch on "non-historical" points, such as learning from the practice of the Bodhisattva ideal, et cetera. But I must say, this book was actually, to be frank, rather boring. I concur with our reviewer from Pennsylvania below: Maybe buy a different book. Truthfully there are certainly much better works out there by much more "with both feet on the ground" style teachers. Now Thurman's book, Infinite Life, is by FAR a much more insightful book and I recommend it 10 fold to this one. In Infinite Life, he's matured a bit more if you ask me; perhaps he realized that many of his books are constantly reviewed as being boring. Who knows? This work was ambitious, but gets only 3 stars from me. Take care!
Rated by buyers -
Robert Thurman, being the very first Westerner to be ordained as a Tibetan monk, has precedent to speak about eastern philosophy like no other American. That said, when I was looking for a connection between eastern philosophy and the world that I live in, Thurman seemed like the best ambassador. This book is largely a history lesson of the last 2,000 years of buddhist philosophy and its stark contrast to its materialistic counterpart lifestyle (capitolism). You're likely to read a lot of hugely profound things in this book, and learn a lot about the history of buddhism from Asoka to Shakyamuni. What I liked best about this book was Thurmans ability to deftly jump from practical contemporary literature to illuminating thousands of years of tradition. Highly recommended!
Rated by buyers 
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Reviews of this book are divided by whether the reader agrees with Thurman's politics. That's not a book review. If you agree that the wealth and happiness of every person depends upon the whole of human history and existence, and that we are all equally responsible for and connected to each other and the planet, then you will agree with the author. If you believe it's everyone for himself (I choose my pronoun deliberately) based on rugged individual talent existing all by itself and making gains at the expense of who and whatever is in the way, then you probably won't. In either case, this book is a thoughtful and humorous presentation of Buddhist philosophy as it may be applied to everyday western life, and the section on how to effect change is worth reading. In fact, it's worth reading this book just to be inspired to visualize the kind of world we could create, if we didn't each think "this whole party is for us."
Rated by buyers -
I believe all critic is but a glimpse on how one grasps the world, and in this, I mean we perceive a split image and tainted with our own personal baggage. Some fine things have been said about the author, about politics and about the author's personality, yet very little has been said about the work: the book.
This is perhaps one of the finest books to shed light in the dilema of the individual in a complex social matrix and its struggles to break free and achieve some sort of personal mission or calling. The book makes an excellent bridge, analyzing planetary history, describing moments in which the collective need to create new ways to experience and understand, catapulted the planet into a new frequency of understanding; this described in terms of an Axial period in History. Thurman's ability to describe and phrase the very nature of Ego and what we all have collectively come to call "personality" is fascinating. The importance of this book is in its capacity to present a diagnosis of our era and the very things that have held us back: meaning that human beings have a mission or pursuit, that of being happy, of being a better human being and with this intention he is also saying that we, as a society (and very much so the society in power) have created a fractured and very little avenue for human kind to experience itself in a dimension beyond suffering.
I can not understand why there is criticism on the book being political, since we all respond to structures of rule and power, if the possibility of all beings achieving happiness is not on our politicians agenda, then who are the serving? Whose interest is it?
Inner Revolution is an invitation to remind us of our Human right to achieve happiness for oneself, others and the planet at large. It is a door to glimpse beyond that which we have all in a way forgotten: the freedom to pursue our true nature.
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